Various types of exercise machines for strengthening and conditioning the body are known. One type of exercise machine, referred to herein as a weight machine, exercises the user's muscles by having the user push, pull, or otherwise move an exercise assembly that is connected to a resistance device, such as a stack of weights. The exercise machine may include one or more exercise assemblies, each designed to exercise a specific muscle group. Some exercise assemblies may be configured by the user to perform two or more different exercises.
Common weight-lifting exercises include press and pull exercises. In press and pull exercises, the user pushes or pulls a pair of arms connected to a weight stack or other resistance device. The arms typically move along a fixed path that may converge or diverge during the exercise. There are a number of drawbacks with conventional press and pull exercise machines. In most prior press and pull exercise machines, the travel path of the arms is fixed. There are a number of reasons why a person may want to change the travel path of the arms. First, the user may want to adjust the arms to follow a path that is comfortable for the user. Second, the user may want to adjust the path of the arms to perform different exercises. Thus, there is a need for a press/pull-type exercise machine that enables the user to adjust the travel path of the arms.
Another drawback with conventional press and pull exercise machines is that press and pull exercises are typically performed at different machines or at different stations on a multi-station exercise machine. Having multiple machines or stations to perform both press and pull exercises increases the cost of the exercise equipment, as well as the space needed to house the exercise equipment. Thus, it would be desirable to perform both press and pull exercises at a single station on the same exercise machine.